HARPAL SINGH BEDI / NEW DELHI
Virat Kohli , MS Dhoni fast bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav and all rounder Hardik Pandya were rested as national selectors named Rohit Sharma as captain of the 15-member team for the Nidahas Trophy, a T20 tri-nation series in Sri Lanka .
Shikhar Dhawan will be the vice captain ..The five new players selected are wicketkeeper Rishbah Pant, allrounders Vijay Shankar and Washington Sundar, batsman Deepak Hooda and fast bowler Mohammad Siraj.
The tri-nation series – India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka- begins on March 6. Each team will play the other twice final is slated for 18 March .
Talking about the team , selection committee chairman MSK Prasad said “We’ve kept in mind the workload and upcoming schedule while finalising the team for Nidahas Trophy.
“The high-performance team has suggested that adequate rest should be given to our fast bowlers to help improve athletic performance, maximise rest and prevent injury. MS Dhoni was not available for selection as he had requested for rest.”
Pant returned to the side after having good season in domestic limited-overs tournaments. He was joint top-scorer during Delhi’s title-winning campaign in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament – in January
Deepak Hooda (Baroda) and Vijay Shankar (TN) have represented the country in India A teams ..Washington Sundar and Mohd Siraj were in Indian team for the limited-overs games against Sri Lanka just before the South Africa tour. .
In the absence of pacers Bhuvneshwar and Bumrah, the responsibility will be on Jaydev Unadkat and Shardul Thakur — both were in the victorious team in South Africa. Mohammad Siraj and all-rounder Vijay Shankar are also medium-pace bowling options.
Squad Rohit Sharma (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik, Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Vijay Shankar, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohammad Siraj, Rishabh Pant